AUSTIN, Texas — Some 2,700 people attended this year’s National Federation of the Blind convention here July 3-8. Another 600 listened to the proceedings online. Delegations attended from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, as well as across the U.S.
For the fifth year in a row, Pathfinder Press was among the many exhibitors, publicizing titles it now makes available in eBook, digital Braille and other formats through Bookshare.org for those who are sight-impaired. Presently 32 titles are available in English and four in Spanish on Bookshare. Flyers in Braille and large print were distributed, promoting these accessible Pathfinder books.
Available at the Pathfinder table and on Bookshare is the new book by Cuban leader Víctor Dreke, Cuba and the Independence War in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde: The Fall of the Last Colonial Empire in Africa. It was the top seller at the convention.
Many participants said they had never heard of Cape Verde until athletes from there played in their first World Cup matches this year, right before the convention.
The Pathfinder booth featured a wide array of books, along with copies of two Militant articles that reported on the work of Cuba’s National Association of the Blind, which participants could take with them. Other best sellers included The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class; Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Class, Privilege, and Learning under Capitalism; and Women’s Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle by Thomas Sankara, the leader of the popular 1983-87 revolution in Burkina Faso.
There are over 7 million blind and vision-impaired people in the U.S. An estimated 70% of working people who are blind are unemployed, while many others face low wages and discrimination by employers. The majority who do have jobs are not organized by the trade unions.
Federal law allows bosses to pay blind and other disabled workers less than minimum wage. The National Federation of the Blind has fought and won legislation to phase out subminimum wages in a number of states.
The federation’s constitution says it aims to be “a vehicle for collective action by the blind,” promote their “equality with the sighted,” and improve their “overall condition and standard of living.”
One theme of the convention was the tremendous advances in technology that have opened many doors for the blind and those with low vision. At the same time, Braille literacy remains key for many.
The convention was marked by participants’ pride and confidence, determined to live the lives they want and fight for accommodations to make that possible.
Amanda Brown from Shamrock, Texas, 28, is the only blind person in the town of less than 1,700. She lost her vision at age 5 and is currently unemployed and trying to find a job. “Blind people don’t have and want more accessibility, like everyone else,” she said. “We don’t want sympathy.” She said she has written a book which will be published next February, What the Blind Girl Saw: An Inspiring Journey from Trauma to Triumph.
A number of participants signed up at the booth to be informed when additional Pathfinder books are available on Bookshare.org.